Relationships beliefs and relationship quality across cultures: Country as a moderator of dysfunctional beliefs and relationship quality in three former Communist societies

Abstract

Research on the correlation between relationship beliefs and quality has rarely considered the impact of culture. In this study, 206 manual workers, students and entrepreneurs from Georgia, Hungary and Russia completed a modified Relationships Belief Inventory (Eidelson & Epstein, 1982) and the Abbreviated Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Sharpley & Rogers, 1984). Results indicated a significant pan-cultural correlation between dysfunctional beliefs and relationship quality but a moderating effect for country, with dysfunctional beliefs in Hungary explaining more than four times of the variance in relationship quality than in the other countries. Findings are interpreted in the light of major value and ecological differences between the three countries.